


Fake A Smile

by trevorisscreaming



Series: Tumblr Requests [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 07:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16113632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trevorisscreaming/pseuds/trevorisscreaming
Summary: Crutchie deals with the effects of being in the Refuge. Jack has been there and done that. Short 'n sweet.





	Fake A Smile

Crutchie had known Jack for years. He had seen Jack in and out of jail. He had seen Jack in and out of fights. He had seen what violence could do to a guy’s head. Through it all, he had remained right by Jack’s side. Jack had given him undying support in the face of sickness, hunger, and hatred from the outside world. He wanted to do the same for Jack. And so he did.

Until he was physically ripped away from him, that was.

Crutchie always thought that, as his best friend, he understood Jack completely. Spending time in the Refuge proved that had not at all been the case. After the stay, Crutchie began to understand Jack in a whole new light. He wished he didn’t.

Though Crutchie did his best to grin and smile and celebrate with the boys upon his return, Jack saw straight though him. Gratefully, Jack let the first few days go by without mentioning it. Crutchie was sure it was nothing worth mentioning. He just needed a few days to reset, to get back in touch with the outside world. He truly believed everything would be fine. That’s when the nightmares started.

Crutchie kept waking up in the night, gasping for breaths and drenched in sweat as his mind echoed back the faint screams from the other kids in his memory. He had been lucky enough to avoid the worst of the violence by watching his please-and-thank-you’s, but the sounds of the nightly terrors his peers experienced, the constant feeling of dread and impending doom, never a second passing without knowing whether he would be next was enough to wear down on his mind.

So while he had come out mostly unscathed, Crutchie still flinched away from everything. He was still wary and restless. He still woke up shaking down to his bones.

“Another one?” Jack mumbled sleepily as he pushed himself up.

“Um, yeah,” Crutchie stuttered out.

Making slow and predictable movements, Jack crawled over to Crutchie. Crutchie forced himself to look Jack in the face and smile. Jack frowned.

“Don’t do that,” He said.

“Don’t do what?” Crutchie asked, voice still shaking.

“Fake a smile. You have any idea who you’re tryin’ ta lie to?” Jack said.

Crutchie looked down and said nothing. Jack reached out a hand too quickly, causing Crutchie to gasp and flinch. Jack recoiled.

“Hey, hey. I’m sorry,” Jack said softly. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya. You’re safe, okay?”

“Feels like I’m gonna shake to pieces,” Crutchie tried to laugh.

“All I’m tryin’ to do is hold those pieces in place,” Jack said in that soft soothing tone.

Maybe it was the empathy that came from the similar experience, maybe it was the softness of Jack’s voice, maybe it was pure vulnerability, maybe it was just because he loved Jack so damn much, but all Crutchie could do in response to that was say nothing and launch himself into Jack’s arms. Jack held him close, rubbing circles into his back and whispering more reassurances.

It was hard to rejoin reality, to just go back to his life as if he hadn’t been pulled from it and held back while the world spun on without him. But there was comfort in the knowledge that Jack had been there, waiting. In this moment while Crutchie’s breath slowly became easy again, that was all that mattered.


End file.
